New transportation

Yesterday, we were finally able to road test the new ride ons that AJ and little Z received for Christmas. It was damp and freezing fog but a great time was had by all.

Merry Christmas

Santa was very generous in our household this year as you can clearly see - we had a lovely day and all the better for not having a big Christmas dinner to prepare. Fish and chips went down really well and meant that the roast dinner on Boxing Day was more appreciated.

Vsiting friends

We managed to go to see some friends and deliver presents and as you can see little Z was right at home feeding baby S!

Christmas is coming!

Having laid wooden floors this year as part of our renovations project, we decided to bite the bullet and have a real Christmas tree as it will be easier to clean up the falling needles. Of course it wasn't just a real tree that was purchased- oh no - there had to be a complete new colour scheme and lots of baubles and decorations to be bought. The resulting chocolate/bronze themed tree is actually quite impressive in real life.

Ice, ice baby...

Once the temperature rose just a tad, some of the snow started to melt but then refroze to form some impressive looking icicles over AJ's bedroom window.

Weather chaos

Pretty as it may be, the weather caused all sorts ofr chaos including the cancellation of Mrs H's work Christmas do. Cue cancellation of hairdressers etc. It was rescheduled for the following Tuesday night and was stil a great do despite some changes to entertainment etc. Mrs H even managed to get a last minute hair appointment and snow or not, decided to make the effort with the evening dress, stilettos the lot!!

Winter Wonderland Part 2

The Isle of Man was covered by a really heavy blanket of snow as most of the UK was. It came down so quickly that the Island was completely gridlocked. My 10 minute journey home from work to collect the children from school took me the best part of 3 hours and someone else had to get the kids!!

Thank goodness for the 4x4 - Mrs H's car remained in the work car park for the next week before it was safe to even consider driving it on the Manx roads!

We did have some fun in the snow though especially as it was the weekend.

Badminton qualification

Not content with all the sporting activities that Mrs H and the children already do, Mrs H decided to formalise the badminton coaching that she does each Sunday and took her Level 1 Badminton Coaching certificate and passed!!!!

December brings the start of all things festive!!

Yes, December came upon us with the first week bringing the school Christmas concerts. 2 seperate ones this year - 2 performances of each to attend!!

Little Z was required to dress in a Hawaiian style brightly coloured dress, sunglasses etc (it did fit into the Christmas story - honest!).

AJ advised us that he needed a gangster hat which was duly purchased and then he advised it needed to be a bobble hat (yes, bit of a difference I know!). Mrs H thought the most sensible thing was to ask the school who advised that it was an East 17 song that the boys were dancing to in their production of Cinderella (don't ask!) so a beanie hat it was after all!!!!

Winter wonderland

Well we did have red sky in the morning recently!!

For the last 4 days we have been living in our own winter wonderland and the children even had an extra long weekend as schools were closed on Monday.

Mrs H's car hasn't moved since Thursday last week and even the 4x4 has struggled on occasion. At one point, we had our new neighbour (luckily he is also a friend) pushing the car up our drive as I attempted to reverse it onto the road!!! Needless to say it has been parked on the road ever since as we daren't try and get it up and down the drive!

Despite all the hassle it brings, it does all look very pretty.

Introducing the newest member of the family ...

Colin the fish!!!

AJ finally had his wish granted and he was allowed to buy himself a fish. He eventually decided on a shubunkin who was duly named Colin. For those of you who know me well, imagine the scene:- It is freezing, raining and blowing a gale and we are in the 'fish shed' at our local garden centre. AJ is busy choosing which fish he would like and yes, guess who then had to chase it round the tank, catch it in the net and safely deposit it into a water-filled plastic bag ensuring that I had actually caught the right one!!!

Red sky at night - sailors' delight ...

Red sky in the morning......

Despite the stunning sunrise, we didn't know what the weather was about to bring!!

Badminton competition

AJ recently took part in the schools island badminton tournament, winning with his partner in the boys doubles. Coupled with the girls winning their doubles, this meant the school won the overall tournament trophy.

Happy Hallowe'en

Little Z and AJ really got into the spirit of the occasion with their costumes this year and had great fun going out to 'trick and treat'.

Outing no 2

Despite spending all of the previous day walking around Chester Zoo, we decided to go for it and spend the whole of the next day at Gullivers World theme park in Warrington. We were pleasantly surprised by how entertaining it was and everyone got into the spirit and tried the rides. We all agreed that the runaway mine cart was the scariest and Z definitely didin't want to try it again! The pirate ship was great fun but Mummy really wasn't keen on the spinning tea-cups especially as everyone else thought it really funny to make it go faster and faster!!

Birthday outing

On her birthday we took little Z to Chester Zoo where her favourite animals were the giraffes and the meerkats.

Birthday girl

Z was 5 on Tuesday and we took a trip to Liverpool over half-term.

She enjoyed opening all the presents and the best bit was each time we sang Happy Birthday with a birthday cake included!!

All change at the hairdressers

Mrs H decided it was time for a change (again!!) and this is the end result - I am really pleased with my new look.

Home improvement project - the final countdown!

For those of you who are aware of the mammoth renovation tasks we undertook this year, the end is in sight!!! Our bedroom underwent a complete overhaul and we are really thrilled at the end results however, Mrs H still does have one complaint - there will never be enough wardrobe space for clothes, shoes and bags!

Baby S meets the Hewletts

This was shortly after we came back from our holidays and our friends Mr & Mrs K became proud parents to Baby S. Little Z was completely entranced by the baby and stood permanently next to the crib all the time we were there!!

Let me in, let me in!

Little Z couldn't wait to get into the classroom today and there was not a backward glance to Mummy and Daddy. She came out at lunch time bouncing. Apparently she had been on the computer today and not "the boring stuff - it was brilliant stuff". That's about all we could get out of her other than she was really put out that she couldn't go back in the afternoon!!

School uniforms at the ready

Don't they look gorgeous???

School time

It was back to school for AJ today and it was also little Z's first day at 'big school'. She has been so excited and couldn't wait for today to arrive. We have been counting the 'sleeps' since we came back from holiday.

From the minute she woke up there was a big smile on her face as she was finally going to school with AJ.

All good things come to an end

Our last night onboard. We had eaten more food than you could ever imagine, tried activities we wouldn't normally get a chance to (Merengue, Viennese Waltz, Cha Cha and Tango dance classes, ice skating, basketball, table tennis, crazy golf, rock climbing to name but some), enjoyed the luxuries of the spa treatment (well Mrs H did!), enjoyed the Kids Club (all of us benefited from that!) and had been entertained with an ice dance show, flamenco performance, Beatles tribute band concert and a mixed entertainment evening. All in all a fantastic holiday and the children are already asking when we can go again!! Highly recommended even though there was a nasty bout of sea-sickness which caused 3 of us to miss the Captain's Dinner! We love Royal Caribbean cruises !!!

More activities to try

After proving to be quite handy (eventually) at the ice skating, Mr H and AJ had a go at the inline skating onboard. They look quite the part actually!

A hard day's night ..

It's hard work doing all this partying on holiday!

Dancing the night away

Little Z was definitely the party animal on the dance floor on the ship. Any music and she was up there showing off her moves!! Mr H and AJ also joined in on this occasion!

All dressed up

Grandma and Grandpa looking extremely glamorous on one of the formal evenings onboard.

Cool in Corsica

AJ mastered the dark shades and hat look in Corsica.

Beautiful Corsica

Corsica was the one place we decided to get off the ship for a wander. The childrens playground and the outdoor market selling French pick and mix sweets proved to be a hit with the children - I wonder why!!!!!!

Hang in there

AJ and Mr H both successfully conquered the rock climbing wall several times. It was at the top of Deck 14 and was at least 20ft upwards. It was HIGH!!

Tee-ing off

Anyone for a round of golf?? The crazy golf course was on the 14th deck (yes you read that right - 14!!). The views were amazing but it was a bit tricky if you overshot!!!